Monthly Archives: July 2013

It is easier to walk To than to run From.
It is easier to draw anew than to erase the errors.
It is easier to achieve sobriety than to stop drinking.
It is easier to smile than to stop complaining.
It is easier to Love than to tolerate
It is easier to become healthy than to lose weight.

It was a scenario with a psychedelic blend of imaginary cultures in an unfamiliar world, ten thousand years or so ago, give or take a century or two.

None of the different cultures understood each other’s words. There were people fighting, there was a love story, two wars, terrifying conflicts with giant carnivorous ostriches, a saber-tooth tiger and lots of shaggy mastodons.

There was a complicated story line and occasionally I would say to myself “Well, what the hell, if this was truly ten thousand years ago I wouldn’t speak these languages either.

When the film was over I understood the entire thing. It might as well have been in English. It didn’t matter. The dialogue was just part of the scenery.

December seventh , 1941
7:53 AM: The first wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Within minutes crippled battleships began to sink.

8:55 AM. The second attack lasted less than an hour. 2,403 people died. One hundred and eighty-eight airplanes were destroyed. Eight battleships were left with little to salvage.

Oklahoma City

December ninth, 1941

A young man clad in olive drab uniform was on his knees, his head still slightly above that of his two and a half-year old son. They were in a second floor walk-up, a one room apartment in not too bad section of town a few blocks north of downtown Oklahoma City.

“Bobby, Uncle Sam has ordered me and a lot of other fathers to defend our country from the Japanese.” said Robert (Bob) Lee Oakes Sr. With the news coming over the radio Bobby had added to his vocabulary some new words and phrases among which were Uncle Sam, Japs, Pearl Harbor and Battleship.

Father went on to talk about Pearl Harbor. He explained to his son that Bobby was now the head of the household and that he had to take care of the family. Hundreds of thousands of young fathers were passing on the mantle of masculine responsibility to their sons and their sons understood.

And so did Bobby. But for this young man it was obvious that this was more than a common American ritual of the day.

As Bobby nodded his head yes, he was very aware of his assignment. This was not a new list of duties that had to be carried out on a daily basis; this job already had a job description and Bobby had been writing it and reaffirming it on a daily basis for some time now. Bob senior had been pulled away from a job as a valet at the parking garage a few blocks away at the Black Hotel; his studies at Oklahoma City University had also been interrupted. Bobby was already caring for an alcoholic mother and a six month old baby brother and had been for months now.

He hugged his father and watched with caution as his Mother said good-bye to her husband with a cursory hug and a peck on the cheek. And his job officially began as he held mother’s half empty bottle of beer while she bade adieu.

How an Introvert Can Be Happier: Act Like an Extrovert

Published in The Wallstreet Journal written by Sumathi Reddi today, 23 July 2013.Both introverts and extroverts can be adept at public speaking. But whereas an extrovert might afterward want to interact with others in a large group, introverts might feel the need for self-reflection and time alone, such as by taking a walk.

Extroverts, those outgoing, gregarious types who wear their personalities on their sleeve, are generally happier, studies show. Some research also has found that introverts, who are more withdrawn in nature, will feel a greater sense of happiness if they act extroverted.

Experts aren’t entirely sure why behaving like an extrovert makes people feel better. One theory is that being talkative and engaging influences how people respond to you, especially if that response is positive. Others speculate that people get more satisfaction when they express their core self and opinions. Another possibility: Happiness might come simply from having successfully completed a goal, such as giving a speech.

“If you’re introverted and act extroverted, you will be happier. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s all about what you do,” said William Fleeson, a psychology professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Other studies have shown that extroverts are more motivated than introverts. Researchers believe this is due in part to extroverts’ greater sensitivity to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a big role in behavior driven by rewards.

Clark Powell considers himself an introvert, but his job as vice president of a media relations and multimedia production firm means he often must act out of character. “My job requires me to be on TV…and to do media training and presentations in front of large groups of people, as painful as that can be sometimes,” said the 46-year-old in Columbia, Ohio. Though he may dread making a presentation, he says he is exhilarated afterward. “I do feel a sense of relief and elation, but I don’t know if that’s because of the experience or because the experience is over,” he said.

Mr. Powell disagrees with research findings that extroverts are happier and more motivated. While extroverts might derive happiness through feedback from others, Mr. Powell says his sources of pleasure include learning new things and reading a good book. “I may not share my happiness as willingly as other people…but I consider myself just as happy and I’m extremely motivated to learn and grow as an individual.”

Whether a person is an extrovert or introvert is one of the big five traits commonly used by psychologists to classify personalities. (The others are openness to experience, conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism.) Researchers say people generally fall somewhere in the middle, with attributes of both types. Extroverts tend to thrive off of interaction with other people. Introverts are typically more reserved, but not necessarily shy. They prefer solitary behavior or engaging in small groups.

Researchers say genetics may play a large role in whether we are more extroverted or introverted. Social experiences, especially those outside of the family environment, are also important, particularly as a child and young adult when the connectivity between neurons is being established.

Dr. Fleeson, of Wake Forest University, reported in a 2012 article in the Journal of Personality the results of an experiment that found introverts experience greater levels of happiness when they act more extroverted. In the weeklong study, researchers followed 85 people who recorded on Palm Pilots how extroverted they were acting and how happy they were feeling. Other studies of introvert behavior have reached similar conclusions.

So why don’t introverts act like extroverts more often? John Zelenski, a psychologist at Carleton University in Ottawa, and fellow researchers probed that question in an April article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

A series of studies, which included more than 600 college students, found that introverts misjudge how they would feel after acting extroverted. They often predicted feelings of anxiety and embarrassment, which never transpired.

“Introverts kind of underestimate how much fun it will be to act extroverted,” said Dr. Zelenski. “You don’t think you want to go to a party and then go and have a great time.” Dr. Zelenski and other researchers also considered whether people acting in a way that goes against their natural disposition might wear themselves out. In two studies, a total of about 150 college students were instructed to behave in an extroverted or introverted manner during a group activity. Questionnaires and cognitive tests measured how much mental energy was depleted.

“We didn’t find a lot of evidence for…the idea that acting like an extrovert would wear out introverts,” said Dr. Zelenski. However, he said: “We found acting like an introvert tended to wear out extroverts,” who performed worse on cognitive tests.

Still, Brian Little a psychology professor at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, believes that acting out of character can take a physiological toll on the nervous and immune systems. Dr. Little says he’s an introvert who often has to engage in extroverted behavior, such as making speeches, in order to advance his work. Afterward, Dr. Little says he often needs to emotionally recharge.

While extroverts might benefit from interacting with others during a break at a conference, Dr. Little prefers to go for walk if he has time. If not, he might hide in the restroom. “As an introvert acting as an extrovert I need to escape from the vicissitudes of overstimulating colleagues,” he said.

Dr. Little says some of his students are starting a study to explore the cost of acting out of character. “I’m quite confident that we can show that going against your traits is going to use up resources,” such as glucose, he said. “Anything that requires concentration is going to deplete glucose resources,” he said.

Researchers say genetic differences also can account for why introverts don’t seek to act extroverted. That’s because introverts don’t get the payoff for that behavior that extroverts do, in the form of heightened sensitivity to the neurotransmitter dopamine. The reasons this occurs aren’t fully understood, says Richard Depue, a professor of neuroscience in the department of human development at Cornell University. The bottom line: Extroverts are wired to act more motivated to get that reward.

Luke Smillie, a senior lecturer of psychology at the University of Melbourne in Australia, notes that most studies of introverts and extroverts take place in the U.S. and other western countries where extroversion is often perceived to be more valuable. “The question is, would you observe the same effects in cultures that didn’t have this sort of value placed on being outgoing and assertive and so forth?” he said.

“We live in a culture that very much subscribes to the extrovert ideal of being bold and assertive,” said Susan Cain, a former corporate lawyer who wrote a book last year called “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,” which argues that introverts are unfairly maligned. Rather than trying to get introverts to act more extroverted, she argues that society should be drawing on their natural strengths, which can include being a good listener and working creatively.

A version of this article appeared July 23, 2013, on page D1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: How an Introvert Can Be Happier: Act Like an Extrovert.

My reply.

This article is not an object report by a bonafide science writer no matter what her title is.

Sandy, I would rather get my information from science reporters. How about Karl Jung or an article in Psychology Today. Hang on for a minute while I see what I can find. Incidentally, every blog I have written has been on this subject, every poem, every essay, even a play.

Look at the picture of the writer. It is a camera-produced line drawing so I think we can use it as evidence. Notice her eyes. Her overactive thyroid is about to pop her eyeballs right out of their sockets. For a hyper-thyroidal “investigator” to produce an objective article on Extroversion OR Introversion is at the very least, cause for suspicion. Even before I look for Jung’s ideas about the subject, even without any knowledge about the writer, I can see that she used more than one study and all came to the same conclusion. That should tell you right away that this article did not begin with a question, it began with a belief.

Sumathi may actually be an introvert herself but compelled by the massive jolts of energy caused by Graves disease, finds herself engaged in constant, compulsive behavior.

There is no helpful information here; only “proofs” chosen by the author to produce a case for what apparently defines her point of view.

Freud argued with Jung at first but eventually realized that the scholars and artists and the scientists who shape our future were for the most part, introverts; they were and are the scientist and the seekers of knowledge and view the rest of the population as wasters of time. This same group of people it seemed to Freud rarely argued but frequently reported their findings where extroverts herded the masses around using the information gathered by introverts to do so. In other words it is the extroverts who control the herd while the introverts supply the knowledge.

My suggestion: Learn the difference between proving and seeking truth. My world is filled with scholars and seekers of truth. I reccomend that to everyone, regardles of their _____ version.

I write essays, stories, plays, poetry and songs. Remembering a childhood experience, imagining an adventure, peering into the future; a new song can stir the soul and stall the inevitable but for ideas to thrive they must be shared. And to share requires the ability to listen to the Source of all Ideas.

One must listen carefully, oh teller of tales for the most important creation is often the Title, the Tickler, the time challenging Source which will make this possible. Or………

Like any good craftsman one can follow a few simple rules and make do until something better comes along. And it will, if needed.

When to Use a Title

Some images are sublime, alive with the moment, unusual and for whatever reason, attractive but still there is no story that comes to mind. The more neutral the idea the easier it is to capture the viewer’s imagination by adding a title. But please, be subtle.
When not to Use a Title.

Remember Norman Rockwell? Here was a man who needed no titles. The successful Illustrator regardless of what his or her artistic medium, may not need a caption. Norman Rockwell was one of the greatest storytellers of my time and he rarely wrote a word.In fact, redundancy threatens every creative endeavor. As a boy I had a couple of snail-mail chats with my hero, one of which was on the subject of using titles to explain the obvious.

Mr. Rockwell agreed with me that his work would in many if not most cases, be more successful without the titles. But that his editors at Post insisted.

And now that we are moving into the world of Kindle-ing our written, creative endeavors we are being encouraged to use keywords, tags and categories to even survive.

What Works Best.

Experimentation is the primary tool for gathering information. We can on the other hand, listen to others and put our faith in their reputation if we choose and judge the ensuing success or the lack thereof, discarding these ideas when necessary and replacing our role model with someone new. Or we can place our faith in the process, do our own work and see what we can learn.

About titles: Titles for chapters, titles for illustration are not like hooks in a song. Hooks are about repetition and building habits but the thing that got the music lover to buy was the title. What made it work was persuading the prospective CD buyer to become involved in the process. The artist name was the first attraction; next came the Album Illustration and the Album title. After that the song titles. The Artist and the album supplied the obvious. The subtlety of the titles involved the prospect.

What Does Not Work Best.

A title that is a perfect fit will soon be forgotten. Subtlety encourages questions. Questions need answers. The need for answers inspire thought. Thought produces memories. Memories produce sales.”

A conversation with Curious Abner, the man with questions and his pal, The Psychedelic Toad who though warty, is endowed with a spiritual glow.

Curio: (Shoulders slumped, slouching with head down.) Hi Psycho.

Psycho: Hi yourself oh Gloomy One. Woman trouble?

Curio: Mmm.

Psycho: The Rescue Lady, again?

Curio: Mmm.

Psycho: So?

Curio: We finally parted pathways.

Psycho: What rhymes with “parted”?

Curio: Clues?

Psycho: It’s not carted or darted or started.

Curio: Mmm.

Psycho: My point is that whatever she did or said is not the reason for your glum outlook, right now.

Curio: Mmm.

Psycho: Whatever you two did to each other was to fart without so much as an “excuse me”.

Curio: Excuse me?

Psycho: A fart begins because something deep inside of you, something really nasty, needs to get out. When it finally emerges, it doesn’t matter whether it sneaks out like it does with your friend or announces itself with a noisy Broooooom; it feels great to get it out. Do you feel sad when you fart?